Gate-latch



(No Model.)

G. W. OHARLEVILLE.

v GATE LATCH.

No. 387,394. Patented Aug. '7, 1888.

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NITED STATES PATENT met.

GEORGE W. OHARLEVILLE, OF MCKINNEY, TEXAS.

GATE-LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,394, dated August 7, 1888.

Application filed February .20, 1888. Serial No. 264,664. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. CHARLE- VILLE, of McKinney, in the county of Gollin and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gate-Latches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in latches designed especially for use on gates, barns, and the like, and comprising a case, a ring or rings loosely suspended in said case, and a lever or levers for operating said rings.

The present invention" consists, essentially, in the construction of the side plate or plates of the case, whereby they will form guides for the rings and prevent such rings from sidewise rocking or play.

The invention consists, further, in other improvements, as will be described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of my latch. Fig. 2 is a face view thereof, one side plate of the case being removed. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on about line at as, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the latch on a gatepost and in connection with a part of a gate. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the latch-bar, and Fig. 6 shows the invention embodied in a single-ring latch.

The case A comprises the side plates, A A, one of which has the rim-plate B projected from its upper edge and at its ends. This rim has formed through it openings 0 for the ringoperating levers. Immediately above these openings 0, I provide projecting ledges c, which form rain-guards and prevent the ingress of water through said openings. At the lower edges of the side plates, A A, I provide inwardly-projecting ledges or bearingflanges D, made su'fficiently wide at their in nor edges to prevent any rocking of the rings when held movably therebetween.

The rings E are loosely suspended in the case and are movable below the case into position to be engaged by the latch-bar X of the gate.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1 the rings are arranged on opposite sides of a central line and are operated by levers F, extending from the opposite ends of the case past the ring at such end and is engaged with the ring at the opposite end of the case, usually by providing the lever with a stud, f, to enter such ring, so the rocking of the levers on pivots f will effect an adjustment of the rings into the case, as desired.

It will be seen that the provision of the ledges D provides a space or recess above the said ledges in which the levers F operate. It will also beseen that the rings, being held be tween the inner adjacent edges of the guide ledges or flanges and also between the inner edges or sides of the levers at the point where the levers pass each other, are prevented from any lateral rocking or play, and will, when pressed upward by the latch-bar, move upward in a true vertical plane, so they will be in position to drop vertically down when the latch-bar has passed.

As shown, I provide the case with stop portions at a a, which prevent the rings from being moved upward by outward pressure on the latch-bar when held by the latch, so such bar can only be released by lifting the rings by hand directly or through the aid of the levers, as shown.

It will be understood that while I prefer to form the latch with two rings and levers to operate the same and to construct both the side plates of the case with the flanges or ledges D, the improvements herein described may be embodied in a single ring latch, such as shown in Fig. 6, without departing from some of the broad features of my invention. In said figure I show a flange or ledge on one only of the-plates, the operating lever or levers being above such ledge, and the other plate forming the opposite bearing-surface for the ring, as will be understood from said figure. However, it will be understood that where it is desired to use a single ring and two operatinglevers, one from each end of the case and eX- tended on opposite sides of said single ring, both plates of the case may have the inwardly-proj ecting guide flange or ledge, as before described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. In a latch, substantially as described, the combination of a case having an inwardly-- projected ledge or flange, a loosely-suspended ring held and movable against said ledge or flange, and an operating-lever arranged above the said ledge and engaged with the ring, whereby to operate the same, substantially as set forth.

2. In a latch, the combination of a case having at its lower end aguide ledge or flange with its bearing-face arranged laterally in from theinner face of the side plate of the case,

a loosely-suspended ring held and movable against the said ledge or flange, and means 10 whereby the said ring may be operated, substantially as set forth.

G. W. GHARLEVILLE. Witnesses:

P. B. TURPIN, SOLON O. KEMoN. 

